Oilers no match for playoff-hungry Kings

EDMONTON — To borrow from that noted philosopher-coach Michel Therrien, it was "mens against boys."

The Los Angeles Kings looked on a mission Friday night as they try to navigate their way to a playoff spot in the wild Western Conference, while the 29th-place Edmonton Oilers took the path of least resistance and went meekly into the night in a 4-1 loss at Rexall Place.

The Oilers, who mustered up a measly 14 shots in the game, scored on their second — Jordan Eberle's power-play ripper 94 seconds into the game — but didn't get another one on Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick the rest of the opening period and just five more in the game's first 35 minutes.

Los Angeles controlled play throughout and received goals from Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards (short-handed), Drew Doughty (power play) and Alec Martinez on hard-luck Oilers netminder Nikolai Khabibulin, who has one win in his last 15 decisions since Jan. 1.

Quick, who should be a Vezina Trophy finalist, made two great glove stops late in the second period on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Andy Sutton as the Oilers showed an offensive pulse, but he could have played most of the night in a rocking chair in his 66th appearance of the season.

"It was like they had seven guys out there," said Oilers defenceman Ryan Whitney.

The Kings were beating the Oilers to virtually every puck, then Edmonton got pummelled after losing its top defensive pairing of Ladislav Smid and Jeff Petry in the first 32 minutes.

Smid, a mass of bruises from all the heavy lifting he's done around the net this season — blocking shots, taking people out of the way — was belted from behind by Kings captain Dustin Brown late in the first period and injured his neck. Oilers coach Tom Renney said it was "a stinger."

Smid, who had surgery on his neck after the 2009-10 season, might not make the road trip to Anaheim and Los Angeles for games Sunday and Monday.

Petry took a Kopitar clearing shot in the face 12 minutes into the second period and didn't return.

"He went for a C-scan of his head and everything checks out," said Renney, indicating that the doctors were also looking at Petry's upper jaw to see if there might be a fracture.

With Smid and Petry out, Whitney played 23 minutes 47 seconds, Nick Schultz 26:02, Sutton 20:22 and Corey Potter 22:23. Centre Chris VandeVelde took a whirl on the back end in the third period to help out, but there was no doubt who was winning this game. It was only a matter of how much.

Flat out, the Kings wanted the win a lot more, as they should if they want to be in the Stanley Cup tournament. With the win, they now are the third seed in the West with 90 points.

"They're a desperate team, playing with every bit of urgency . . . they've got some karma going. We're hanging on for dear life, trying not to embarrass ourselves," said Renney. "They were heavier, stronger, more determined, with second and third efforts, things we'd like to incorporate into our game."

Los Angeles scored on the game's first shot. King fired the puck at the net and it hit Kopitar on the foot before skipping past Khabibulin 52 seconds in.

Eberle then recorded his 33rd of the season with Matt Greene in the penalty box, but that was it.

Richards skipped past Petry, who was trying to keep a wildly bouncing puck in at the blue line on an Oilers power play midway through the first period and lifted a backhand past Khabibulin's glove for his fourth short-handed goal of the season; Doughty sifted a shot past Khabibulin that went off Petry's stick blade, with Brown screening the goalie; and Martinez pounced on a rebound in the third as the Kings beat the Oilers for the first time in three meetings. They had lost 2-1 and 3-0 in the other games.

"That's a team fighting for their lives and they played like it," said Schultz. "They were all over us pretty much all night.

"You have to lay it on the line. This is our season here, the last week or so . . . we're getting a chance to play in situations against teams competing for a playoff spot, and that's the only way you get better. We have to strive to be like teams like the Kings."

Khabibulin deserved better.

"We have to win one for him. He's out early for practice, he stays out late. He's 39 years old. He's a real pro," said Whitney. "They score on the first shift. That's kind of a bad sign."

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